Chris Vance Is The New ‘Transporter’

The former "Prison Break" actor steps into Jason Staham's famous role for Cinemax's upcoming TV adaptation.

According to Deadline, Chris Vance has been signed to play Frank Martin in "The Transporter." As in the original film trilogy when Jason Statham played the part, Martin is the consummate professional who lives by his own code while transporting people and objects for the highest bidders… as long as they play by his rules.

Vance is perhaps best known for playing James Whistler on the third season of "Prison Break," before going on to star in the short lived Fox series, "Mental." Prior to that, Vance starred in the Australian drama "All Saints." More recently, Vance has had memorable guest turns on "Burn Notice" and "Dexter."

Although the basic concept of "The Transporter" appears to be consistent with the original films, the new report notes that former model Andrea Osvart has been cast as the female lead, Carla. The story describes Carla as "an extremely crafty former CIA operative who organizes [Frank's] missions, acts as his eyes and ears on the outside, and continually stokes the flames of their unrequited attraction."

As my colleague Sax Carr once noted on The Idiot Box, the second "Transporter" film implied that Frank Martin was gay. But that characterization was denied in the third film by Frank himself and it was odds to Frank's heterosexual relationship with Lai Kwai (Shu Qi) in the first film. If the TV series is giving Frank a love interest right off the bat, it seems like it's going to be less ambiguous about Frank's sexuality